This invention relates to substantially solvent-free adhesive compositions prepared from latices of rubbery polymers.
Compositions suitable for adhering two surfaces together are known. Some are based on solutions of rubbery polymers in volatile solvents while others are based on dispersions of rubbery polymers in water e.g. aqueous latices of rubbery polymers. With solvent-based adhesives, the rate of bond strength development and the rate of drying may be rapid but the presence of the solvent is disadvantageous with respect to toxicity, flammability, environmental pollution and high cost resulting from the need to recover the solvent. With adhesives based on aqueous latices, the situation is reversed in that toxicity, flammability, pollution and solvent recovery cost problems are non-existent but the rate of bond strength development and the rate of drying have been undesirably slow.